ABSTRACT
Brown rice is nutritionally superior to white rice. It has higher percentages of all nutrients except carbohydrate (1). Thiamine and oil contents of brown rice are approximately five times that of white rice, while fiber, niacin, phosphorous, potassium, iron, sodium, and riboflavin contents are approximately two to three times greater (1). The bran layers that are milled from brown rice to obtain white rice account for the higher nutritive content of brown rice. Besides being nutrient-rich, these bran layers also have hypocholesterolemic properties (2-5). The cholesterol-lowering activity of the bran is believed to be associated with unsaponifiables found in processed rice bran oil (6-8).
